Woman with child drives on Phoenix airport runway

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PHOENIX — A woman driving with a small child in her car crashed through a gate at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and drove onto the runway — the latest in a series of similar incidents across the country that have raised questions on whether US airports are secure.

The woman rammed the partially open airport gate about 10 p.m. Thursday and started crossing the runway, police spokesman Sergeant Trent Crump said. Police forced the car to stop in a few minutes and held the driver.

Such incidents are troublesome because a vehicle that crashed into a jetliner landing or taking off could cause a catastrophe, whether it was an intoxicated driver behind the wheel or a terrorist, said Jeff Price, an aviation professor at the Metropolitan State University of Denver.